by Martin Frank, USA TODAY Sports

by Martin Frank, USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - There is one overriding question as the Eagles prepare for their first training camp under new coach Chip Kelly: Who will be the starting quarterback?

Much to the chagrin of Michael Vick, Kelly won't name one before camp starts July 22 for rookies and three days later for the veterans.

Chances are, Kelly won't do it until just before the season opener Sept. 9 in Washington.

So the six weeks of training camp, including the four preseason games, will determine everything. Vick, 33, will try to hold off second-year quarterback Nick Foles, who started six games last season when Vick was out with a concussion. Rookie Matt Barkley, who set numerous passing records at Southern Cal as a four-year starter, is expected to get a chance, too.

Kelly knows it could get tense.

"It's not different than any other position," Kelly said. "I understand more scrutiny is made on the quarterback position than anything else. Every day we come off the practice field, [the media] wants to know, 'How did the quarterbacks do?' No one was like, 'How did the gunner on the punt team do?' "

Kelly then was asked who his gunner is going to be.

"It's up in the air," he said with a laugh. "It truly is."

During the organized team activities in the spring, Vick and Foles split the first-team reps, while Barkley worked exclusively with the third team. If Barkley is going to get a legitimate shot, he'll need to get some first-team reps, as well.

Kelly said at some point, the quarterbacks will separate themselves.

"Everywhere I've been, it has played itself out on the field," Kelly said. "Does that mean it's going to happen here? I don't know. But I've never been in a situation where we've had to make a decision and it was like, 50-50, pick it out of a hat.

"Somebody over the course of time has stepped up and won the battle. That's what you're hoping to have happen again here. Hopefully, it's evident to everybody, like, 'There's no question that it's this guy because his game stepped up.' "

That makes training camp, and especially the preseason games, critical. The games are the only chance Kelly has to see how the quarterbacks react to getting hit, elude the pass rush and throw under pressure.

"We're going to have to be judged off that because we're not tackling our quarterbacks in scrimmages," Kelly said. "And then you become a different guy when you can actually be hit. Guys act a little bit differently when that happens, so we have to put them in that situation."

So what is the coaching staff looking for?

"Accuracy and decision-making are the first two," quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor said. "You have to play at the speed of the game. Accuracy and making the right decision at the right time. Those are two qualities that a guy has to have, and then athletic ability."

The quarterbacks understand they'll be under the proverbial microscope during the next several weeks, and every move will be dissected by fans and media alike.

"I definitely understand it, but at the same time, you zone stuff out," Foles said. "As a player, there are things that if you think about it too much, your concentration is elsewhere. My concentration when I'm playing is playing. I can't worry about all that.

"What does worrying about where I am on the pecking order really matter? That's my point. I don't go to sleep at night wondering where I am. What I can do is work hard, come out on the field, execute the plays and make the guys around me better."

There might be other factors at play, too, although Kelly bristles at those.

For example, many see Vick, who's essentially on a one-year contract, as a stopgap until either Foles or Barkley is ready to take over next year.

Kelly said if Vick were to win the job, it would be because he's the best quarterback.

Conversely, Kelly said he wouldn't go with one of the younger quarterbacks because he wants to develop them at the expense of wins.

"My job is to win right now," Kelly said. "How do you think I'd be received in Philly if I told [people] we were going to write this year off? We're not writing anything off. We're going out there to compete and see how it falls.

"Our decision isn't based on what's the future two years down theroad or three years down the road. I don't think that far."

Kelly was asked if naming a quarterback now at least gives that player some confidence heading into training camp.

"How do I name him [right now]?" Kelly said. "We've been out here in shorts and T-shirts since April 1. And I'm going to name a starting quarterback based on that? They haven't been hit. There's been no [pass] rush. I don't think that's fair."

Besides, as Lazor put it, the objective of naming a starting quarterback is simple: "You want a guy who plays so well that you never take him out. That's what we're aiming for."